{"id":7129,"date":"2026-02-03T13:44:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T18:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/?page_id=7129"},"modified":"2026-03-15T12:45:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T17:45:04","slug":"karim-al-zand-music-a-joint-interest","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/alzand.com\/?page_id=7129","title":{"rendered":"Karim Al-Zand: Music: A Joint Interest"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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A Joint Interest<\/h2>\r\n

chamber opera for 3 voices and ensemble<\/h5>\r\n

A<\/span> Joint Interest<\/i> is a short chamber opera for three voices and ensemble based on a 1904 short story by O. Henry entitled Makes the Whole World Kin<\/i>. It forms a companion piece to another chamber opera, The Leader<\/a><\/i>, with which it shares its instrumentation and voice casting. The opera was commissioned as part of the Shepherd School of Music’s<\/i> 50th anniversary celebrations in 2025, and was premiered by student singers and instrumentalists.<\/p>\"\"<\/a>\r\n

SYNOPSIS<\/strong>
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It is late evening. A woman putters about her apartment. She is suffering from insomnia on account of her persistent rheumatoid arthritis. After she finally falls asleep, a cat burglar enters her apartment intent on robbing her. She wakes up and in the ensuing imbroglio, we discover that the thief is a fellow sufferer of joint pain and the two bond over shared medicinal experiences. A Joint Interest<\/i> retains O. Henry’s charming comedic style, his sharp characterization and his famous surprise endings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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photo by Michael Bishop<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n

CAST<\/strong>
Woman (mezzo-soprano)
An arthritis sufferer and insomniac<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Burglar (lyric baritone)
A cat burglar of the professional class<\/i><\/p>\r\n

Officer (baritone\/bass-baritone)
A night-shift police man<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\n

PROGRAM NOTE<\/strong>
Times being as they are, much of my recent music has been rather serious in topic and tone. But on this happy occasion, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Shepherd School of Music, I chose to engage a story filled with charity, warmth and good humor, those qualities having always marked my time at Rice. A Joint Interest is a short comic scene, in the tradition of opera buffa and operetta, genres not often represented in contemporary repertoire.<\/p>

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O. Henry (1862-1910)<\/p><\/div>My libretto is loosely based on a short story by American author O. Henry (1862-1910) entitled Makes the Whole World Kin.<\/i>I first encountered O. Henry\u2019s short stories in middle school, and I remember immediately being taken by their charm, humor and most of all, by the author\u2019s famous \u201csurprise endings.\u201d Though A Joint Interest is a broad farce, I hope you\u2019ll find that its madcap humor is stitched together with a thread of seriousness worth remembering, a truth that binds us all together\u2014a \u201cjoint interest,\u201d if you will. For, as George Bernard Shaw said, \u201cWhen you want to tell people the truth, you\u2019d better make them laugh, otherwise they\u2019ll kill you.\u201d<\/p><\/br<\/br><\/br>\r\n\r\n

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purchase score & parts<\/span><\/h4> <\/span>Learn More<\/span><\/a> <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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DATE
2025<\/br><\/br><\/p>\r\n

DURATION
\r\n21 minutes<\/br><\/br><\/p>\r\n

CAST
\r\nWoman (mezzo-soprano)
Burglar (lyric baritone)
Officer (baritone\/bass-baritone)<\/br><\/br><\/p>\r\n

INSTRUMENTATION
Flute (doubles Piccolo)
B-flat Clarinet (doubles Bass Clarinet)
B-flat Cornet
Trombone
Percussion (1 player)
vibraphone, xylophone, glockenspiel, snare drum,
hi-hat, suspended cymbal, pedal bass drum, ratchet, <\/br> vibraslap, sizzle cymbal, piccolo timpani<\/i>
2 Violins
Viola
Cello
Contrabass<\/br><\/br><\/p>\r\n

COMMISSION
\r\nShepherd School of Music, supported in part by <\/br>Rice\u2019s Office of Research<\/br><\/br><\/p>\r\n

PREMI\u00c8RE
\r\nFebruary 1, 2026<\/p>\r\n

conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya
directed by Paul Curran
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Jessica Lyublinky: Woman<\/i>
Jack Burrows: Burglar<\/i>
Garrett Reider: Officer<\/i>
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Isabelle Jamois: flute\/piccolo
Luis Rangel: clarinet
David Green: cornet
Alec Eads: trombone
Tyler Martin & Will Vasquez: percussion
Nicholas Garcia-Hettinger violin
Ines Doulet: violin
Margaret O\u2019Malley: viola
Sam Sykes: cello
Eli Hilborn: contrabass<\/br><\/br><\/p>\r\n

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SCORE<\/br>\r\n

Full Score (PDF)<\/a>
Piano-Vocal (PDF)<\/a><\/br><\/br><\/p>\r\n

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AUDIO<\/br>\r\n

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VIDEO<\/br>\r\n